2019 Roscommon County Council election
A Roscommon County Council election was held in County Roscommon in Ireland on 24 May 2019 as part of that year's local elections. All 18 councillors were elected for a five-year term of office from 3 local electoral areas (LEAs) by single transferable vote. Only three political parties (Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin) fielded candidates in Roscommon, the fewest of any Irish county/city in the 2019 local elections. The 2018 LEA boundary review committee made no changes to the LEAs used in the 2014 elections.


2019 Roscommon Senior Football Championship
The 2019 Roscommon Senior Football Championship is the 119th edition of the Roscommon GAA's premier club Gaelic football tournament for senior clubs in County Roscommon, Ireland. 12 teams compete, with the winner representing Roscommon in the Connacht Senior Club Football Championship. The championship starts with a group stage and then progresses to a knock out stage.


2019 Roscommon Senior Football Championship
Clann na nGael were the defending champions after they defeated St. Brigid's in the 2018 final to claim their 21st S.F.C. crown.


2019 Roscommon Senior Football Championship
This was Fuerty's debut in the top flight of Roscommon football after claiming the 2018 I.F.C. title.


2019 Roscommon Senior Football Championship
St. Faithleach's were defeated by St. Croan's in their Relegation Final and so were relegated back to the I.F.C. for 2020 after spending 17 seasons in Roscommon football's top-flight (since their last I.F.C. title in 2002).


2019 Roscommon Senior Football Championship
On 20th October 2019 Padraig Pearses won their first ever championship title on when defeating Roscommon Gaels 2-10 to 1-10 in the final at Dr. Hyde Park.


2019 Roscommon Senior Football Championship, Team Changes
The following teams have changed division since the 2018 championship season.


2019 Roscommon Senior Football Championship, Group Stage
There are three groups of four teams called Group A, B and C. The 1st and 2nd placed teams in Groups A, B and C automatically qualify for the Quarter-Finals. One third placed team from one of the three groups will receive a bye into the Quarter-Finals in an open draw. The remaining two 3rd placed teams will meet in a  Quarter-Final Play-Off to determine the team that completes the Quarter-Finals lineup. The 4th placed teams will proceed to the Relegation Play-Off to determine which team will suffer relegation.


2019 Roscommon Senior Football Championship, Group Stage
Each team has home advantage in one round, plays away in another before a neutral venue is for another round.


2019 Roscommon Senior Football Championship, Knock-Out Stage, Preliminary Quarter-Final
One third placed team from one of the three groups will receive a bye into the Quarter-Finals in an open draw. The remaining two 3rd placed teams will meet in a  Quarter-Final Play-Off to determine the team that completes the Quarter-Finals lineup.


2019 Roscommon Senior Football Championship, Knock-Out Stage, Quarter-Finals
The 1st placed teams in Groups A, B and C along with the 2nd placed team with the best record are seeded for the Quarter-Final draw and cannot meet each other in the Quarter-Finals. The remaining 2nd and 3rd placed tams in the Quarter-Finals are unseeded. No pairing which is a repeat of a group stage fixture can occur in the Quarter-Finals.


2019 Roscommon Senior Football Championship, Relegation Play-Off
The Relegation Play-Off will consist of the 4th placed finishers in Groups A, B and C. The two teams with the best group record play in the Relegation Semi-Final. The loser of this semi-final must play-off with the remaining team in the Relegation Final. The winner of the semi-final and final retains their senior status for 2020, while the loser of the Relegation Final must ply their trade in the I.F.C. for 2020.


2019 Rose Bowl
The 2019 Rose Bowl was a college football bowl game played on January 1, 2019 at the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, California. It was the 105th edition of the Rose Bowl Game, and one of the 2018–19 bowl games concluding the 2018 FBS football season. The game matched the Big Ten champion Ohio State Buckeyes against the Pac-12 champion Washington Huskies. Ohio State won the game, 28–23, to capture its eighth Rose Bowl championship in program history. Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer announced his retirement from coaching the month before, making the 2019 Rose Bowl his final game. Sponsored by the Northwestern Mutual financial services organization, the game was officially known as the Rose Bowl Game presented by Northwestern Mutual.


2019 Rose Bowl, Pre-game activities
"The Melody of Life" was the theme chosen by Pasadena Tournament of Roses president Gerald Freeny. The game was presided over by Grand Marshal Chaka Khan, the "Queen of Funk. ".


2019 Rose Bowl, Pre-game activities
George Halas (Great Lakes Navy), Randall McDaniel (Arizona State), Pop Warner (Stanford), and Vince Young (Texas) were inducted into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame prior to the game.


2019 Rose Bowl, Pre-game activities
The 130th Rose Parade was held in downtown Pasadena the morning of the game, with floats from both conferences. The bands and cheerleaders from both schools also participated.


2019 Rose Bowl, Teams
The teams playing in the Rose Bowl Game were the highest ranking teams from the Pac-12 Conference and Big Ten Conference that were not selected to play in a College Football Playoff (CFP) semifinal game; Washington and Ohio State, respectively. This game marks the first time those two programs met in a bowl game. This was the schools' 12th meeting; Ohio State led the all-time series, 8–3. Both teams arrived in Los Angeles by December 26 and participated in the Disneyland welcome at Disney California Adventure. Their practices were held at the Dignity Health Sports Park (formerly the StubHub Center) in nearby Carson.


2019 Rose Bowl, Teams, Washington Huskies
Washington secured its berth in the Rose Bowl with a victory over Utah in the Pac-12 Football Championship Game on November 30. The Huskies entered the Rose Bowl with a 10–3 record (7–2 in conference). This was Washington's 15th appearance in the Rose Bowl Game, with a record of 7–6–1 entering the game.


2019 Rose Bowl, Teams, Ohio State Buckeyes
Ohio State, winner of the Big Ten Football Championship Game, became the Big Ten representative in the Rose Bowl when the team was not selected for the College Football Playoff. The Buckeyes entered the Rose Bowl with a 12–1 record (8–1 in conference). This was Ohio State's last game under head coach Urban Meyer, who announced his intent to retire on December 4. This was Ohio State's 15th appearance in the Rose Bowl Game, with a record of 7–7 entering the game.


2019 Rose Bowl, Game summary
Kickoff: 2:12 p.m. PSTEnd of game: 5:41 p.m. PSTDuration: 3 hours, 29 minutes


2019 Rose Bowl, Game summary
John McDaid (referee), Tom Quick (umpire), Chad Green (linesman) Michael Shirley (line judge), Jimmy Russell (back judge), Phil Davenport (field judge)Alex Moore (side judge), Brian Davis (center judge)


2019 Rose of Tralee
The 2019 Rose of Tralee was the 60th edition of the annual Irish international festival held on 26–27 August 2019. The competition was televised live on RTÉ television. 57 women from all over the world took part during the Rose of Tralee festival with 32 going on to the live shows.


2019 Rose of Tralee
The Limerick Rose, 27-year-old Sinéad Flanagan was named as the 2019 International Rose of Tralee.


2019 Rosenborg BK season
The 2019 season is Rosenborg's 40th consecutive year in the top flight now known as Eliteserien, their 52st season in the top flight of Norwegian football. They will participate in Eliteserien, the Cup, the 2019 Mesterfinalen and the 2019-20 UEFA Champions League, entering at the First qualifying round stage. This will be Eirik Horneland's first season as Rosenborg manager after being appointed on January 3.


2019 Rosenborg BK season, Squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2019 Rosenborg BK season, Transfers, Winter
In:Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2019 Rosenborg BK season, Transfers, Winter
Out:Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2019 Rosenborg BK season, Transfers, Summer
In:Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2019 Rosenborg BK season, Transfers, Summer
Out:Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2019 Rosmalen Grass Court Championships
The 2019 Rosmalen Grass Court Championships (also known as the Libéma Open for sponsorship reasons) was a tennis tournament played on outdoor grass courts. It was the 30th edition of the event, and part of the 250 Series of the 2019 ATP Tour, and of the WTA International tournaments of the 2019 WTA Tour. Both the men's and the women's events took place at the Autotron park in Rosmalen, 's-Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands, from June 10 through June 16, 2019.


2019 Rosmalen Grass Court Championships, ATP doubles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following pairs received wildcards into the doubles main draw:


2019 Rosmalen Grass Court Championships, WTA doubles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following pairs received wildcards into the doubles main draw:


2019 Rosmalen Grass Court Championships – Men's Doubles
Dominic Inglot and Franko Škugor were the defending champions, but Škugor chose to compete in Stuttgart instead. Inglot played alongside Austin Krajicek and successfully defended the title, defeating Marcus Daniell and Wesley Koolhof in the final, 6–4, 4–6, [10–4].


2019 Rosmalen Grass Court Championships – Men's Singles
Richard Gasquet was the defending champion, but lost to Jordan Thompson in the semifinals.


2019 Rosmalen Grass Court Championships – Men's Singles
Adrian Mannarino won his first ATP Tour title in his seventh final, defeating Thompson in the final, 7–6(9–7), 6–3.


2019 Rosmalen Grass Court Championships – Men's Singles, Seeds
The top four seeds receive a bye into the second round.


2019 Rosmalen Grass Court Championships – Women's Doubles
Elise Mertens and Demi Schuurs were the defending champions, but Mertens decided not to participate this year. Schuurs played alongside Kiki Bertens, but lost in the semifinals to Lesley Kerkhove and Bibiane Schoofs.


2019 Rosmalen Grass Court Championships – Women's Doubles
Shuko Aoyama and Aleksandra Krunić won the title, defeating Kerkhove and Schoofs in the final, 7–5, 6–3.


2019 Rosmalen Grass Court Championships – Women's Singles
Aleksandra Krunić was the defending champion, but lost to Kirsten Flipkens in the first round, in a rematch of the previous year's final.


2019 Rosmalen Grass Court Championships – Women's Singles
Alison Riske won the title, defeating Kiki Bertens in the final, 0–6, 7–6(7–3), 7–5.


2019 Rossendale Borough Council election
Elections to Rossendale Borough Council were held on 2 May 2019, as part of the wider 2019 UK local elections.


2019 Rossendale Borough Council election
Councillors elected in 2015 were defending their seats this year, and they will be contested again in 2023. The Labour Party retained control of the Council.


2019 Rostelecom Cup
The 2019 Rostelecom Cup was the fifth event of the 2019–20 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at Megasport Sport Palace in Moscow, Russia from November 15–17. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dance. Skaters earned points toward qualifying for the 2019–20 Grand Prix Final.


2019 Rostelecom Cup, Entries
The ISU announced the preliminary assignments on June 20, 2019.


2019 Rother District Council election
The 2019 Rother District Council election took place on 2 May 2019 to elect members of Rother District Council in East Sussex, England.


2019 Royal London One-Day Cup
The 2019 Royal London One-Day Cup tournament was a limited overs cricket competition that formed part of the 2019 domestic cricket season in England and Wales. The tournament was won by Somerset, their first win in the tournament since 2001. Matches were contested over 50 overs per side and had List A cricket status.


2019 Royal London One-Day Cup
All eighteen first-class counties competed in the tournament, which due to the 2019 Cricket World Cup being hosted in England took place at the beginning of the English cricket season starting on 17 April 2019, with the final taking place just over a month later at Lord's on 25 May 2019. Hampshire were the defending champions.


2019 Royal London One-Day Cup, Format
The competition featured two groups of nine teams, based on a rough North–South geographical split. Each team played eight matches during the group stage, playing every other member of their group once, with four matches at home and four away. The group stage took place from the middle of April to the end, taking place earlier than usual due to the 2019 Cricket World Cup taking place in England and Wales. The group winners progressed straight to the semi-finals and the second and third placed teams in each group played a play-off against a team from the other group with the winner progressing to one of the semi-final matches.


2019 Royal London One-Day Cup, Knockout stage
The winner of each group progressed straight to the semi-finals with the second and third placed teams playing a play-off match against a team from the other group which made up the play-offs. The winner of each play-off played one of the group winners in the semi-finals. The final took place at Lord's on 25 May 2019.


2019 Rugby Africa season
The 2019 Rugby Africa season experienced significant restructuring and downsizing from the previous two seasons due to the loss of sponsor Kwese Sports. Due to the lack of funding, the previous formats of the Gold, Silver, and Bronze divisions of the Africa Cup were replaced with a revival of the Victoria Cup and a regional West African series.


2019 Rugby Africa season, Men's Tournaments, Victoria Cup
The Victoria Cup was held for the first time since 2011 and featured four nations playing a double round robin. The fixtures between Kenya and Uganda doubled as the two legs of the Elgon Cup.


2019 Rugby Africa season, Men's Tournaments, West African Series
The Ghana Rugby Football Union organized a regional series for West African nations.


2019 Rugby Americas North Championship
The 2019 Rugby Americas North Championship is a rugby union championship for Tier 3 North American and Caribbean teams.


2019 Rugby Americas North Championship, Format
This is the second edition of the tournament since the launch of the Americas Rugby Challenge, and the second consecutive year with major structural changes.


2019 Rugby Americas North Championship, Format
With Cayman Islands winning promotion to the Americas Rugby Challenge, and Trinidad and Tobago electing not to participate, the Championship division of both the north and south zones have been reduced to single matches, followed by a championship play-off, the winner of which will play the lower ranked North American team of the 2019 Americas Rugby Challenge for promotion. The lower Cup divisions of each zone will consist of three teams each playing in a single round robin. Also, multiple North American teams are scheduled to play one-off tests and warm-up matches for the Americas Rugby Challenge.


2019 Rugby Americas North Championship, Format
Also, there is no promotion and relegation between divisions planned for this year, as the 2020 edition of the tournament is expected to be part of qualification for the 2023 Rugby World Cup, and will only involve full members of World Rugby.


2019 Rugby Americas North Championship, Format
The following teams are scheduled to take part in the 2019 tournament. World Rankings are taken from the start of each division.


2019 Rugby Americas North Championship, North Zone, Championship
This match was originally scheduled to be the promotion playoff after the 2018 Rugby Americas North Championship, but was reworked to be the 2019 championship proper after Cayman Islands were promoted out of the competition to the Americas Rugby Challenge.


2019 Rugby Americas North Championship, America Challenge Play off
NACRA Champion vs Lower placed RAN team in Americas Challenge 2019


2019 Rugby Borough Council election
The 2019 Rugby Borough Council election took place on 2 May 2019 to elect members of Rugby Borough Council in England. This was on the same day as other local elections.


2019 Rugby Challenge
The 2019 Rugby Challenge – known as the SuperSport Rugby Challenge for sponsorship reasons – was the 2019 season of the Rugby Challenge, the secondary domestic rugby union competition in South Africa. It was the third edition of the competition organised by the South African Rugby Union and was played between 27 April and 22 June 2019. There were sixteen teams participating in the competition; the fourteen provincial unions, plus Namibian side the  Welwitschias and the Zimbabwe Academy. These teams were divided into two sections, with eight teams playing in each of the North Section and the South Section.


2019 Rugby Challenge, Competition rules and information
Each team in the competition played the other teams in their section once during the pool stage, either at home or away. The top two teams in each section will progress to the semifinals, with the two semifinal winners meeting in the final.


2019 Rugby Challenge, Teams
The teams that competed in the 2019 Rugby Challenge are:


2019 Rugby Challenge, North Section, Round-by-round
The table below shows each team's progression throughout the season. For each round, each team's cumulative points total is shown with the overall log position in brackets.


2019 Rugby Challenge, South Section, Round-by-round
The table below shows each team's progression throughout the season. For each round, each team's cumulative points total is shown with the overall log position in brackets.


2019 Rugby Challenge, Honours
The honour roll for the 2019 Rugby Challenge was as follows:


2019 Rugby Challenge, Referees
The following referees officiated matches in the 2019 Rugby Challenge:


2019 Rugby Championship
This is the current revision of this page, as edited by An0n0mas Creative M4mpara (talk | contribs) at 14:37, 20 April 2021 (→Results). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this version.


2019 Rugby Championship
The 2019 Rugby Championship was the eighth edition of the annual southern hemisphere Rugby Championship, featuring Argentina, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. The competition is operated by SANZAAR, a joint venture of the four countries' national unions.


2019 Rugby Championship
The tournament schedule was similar to that of the 2015 edition, being shortened due to the World Cup.


2019 Rugby Championship
New Zealand was the three-time back-to-back defending champions entering this years Championship. However, South Africa claimed their fourth title, their first since the inception of the Rugby Championship and their first Southern Hemisphere title since 2009. They became the third team to claim the expanded Southern Hemisphere championship, following New Zealand and Australia.


2019 Rugby Championship, Background
The tournament is operated by SANZAAR and known for sponsorship reasons as The Castle Rugby Championship in South Africa, The Investec Rugby Championship in New Zealand, The Mitsubishi Estate Rugby Championship in Australia, and The Personal Rugby Championship in Argentina.


2019 Rugby Championship, Format
Because of the 2019 World Cup, the tournament schedule was reduced, as it was in 2015, to each team playing each other once. Australia and Argentina each played two home matches out of the three matches to be played in total. New Zealand and South Africa had one home fixture. As usual, a win earned a team four league points, a draw two league points, and a loss by eight or more points zero league points. A bonus point was earned in one of two ways: by scoring at least three tries more than the opponent in a match, or by losing within seven points. The competition winner was the side with the most points at the end of the tournament.


2019 Rugby Championship, Other Cups
Because the Bledisloe Cup is decided in two home-and-away legs, after the end of the shortened Rugby Championship, New Zealand and Australia played for the Bledisloe Cup decider at Eden Park, Auckland, with Australia leading the series 1-0. New Zealand retained the Cup for the 17th consecutive year with a comprehensive 36-0 win, concluding in a 1-1 series result.


2019 Rugby Championship, Results, Round 1
Touch judges:Matthew Carley (England)Karl Dickson (England)Television match official:Rowan Kitt (England)


2019 Rugby Championship, Results, Round 1
Touch judges:Pascal Gaüzère (France)Alexandre Ruiz (France)Television match official:Graham Hughes (England)


2019 Rugby Championship, Results, Round 2
Touch judges:Angus Gardner (Australia)Shuhei Kubo (Japan)Television match official:Rowan Kitt (England)


2019 Rugby Championship, Results, Round 2
Touch judges:Paul Williams (New Zealand)Brendon Pickerill (New Zealand)Television match official:Ben Skeen (New Zealand)


2019 Rugby Championship, Results, Round 3
Touch judges:Jaco Peyper (South Africa)Shuhei Kubo (Japan)Television match official:Marius Jonker (South Africa)


2019 Rugby Championship, Results, Round 3
Touch judges:Matthew Carley (England)Karl Dickson (England)Television match official:Rowan Kitt (England)


2019 Rugby Championship, Squads, Summary
Note: Ages, caps and clubs/franchises are of 20 July 2019 – the starting date of the tournament


2019 Rugby Championship, Squads, Argentina
On 46-man extended squad for the 2019 Rugby Championship and in preparation for the 2019 Rugby World Cup.


2019 Rugby Championship, Squads, Argentina
Note: Flags indicate national union for the club/province as defined by World Rugby.


2019 Rugby Championship, Squads, Australia
On 4 July, Michael Cheika named a 34-man squad for the 2019 Rugby Championship.


2019 Rugby Championship, Squads, Australia
James O'Connor officially joined the squad on 17 July after the completion of signing a contract with Rugby Australia and the Queensland Reds.


2019 Rugby Championship, Squads, New Zealand
On 2 July 2019, Hansen named a 39-man squad ahead of the 2019 Rugby Championship.


2019 Rugby Championship, Squads, South Africa
The following players were named in the South African squad for the 2019 Rugby Championship:


2019 Rugby Europe Championship
The 2019 Rugby Europe Championship is the premier rugby union competition outside of the Six Nations Championship in Europe. This is the third season under its new format, that sees Georgia, Germany, Russia, Spain, Belgium and Romania compete for the title. After the eligibility controversy of the 2018 Championship, Romania had to face Portugal for the promotion- / relegation- play-off and defeated them, hence joining the competition as the sixth contender.


2019 Rugby Europe Sevens Conference
The 2019 Rugby Europe Sevens Conference was the third divisions of Rugby Europe's 2019 sevens season. It was held in Belgrade, Serbia on 8–9 June 2019, with the top two advancing to the 2020 Sevens Trophy. As winner of the tournament, Hungary advances to the European qualifying tournament for the 2020 Summer Olympics.


2019 Rugby Europe Sevens Grand Prix Series
The 2019 Rugby Europe Sevens Grand Prix Series was the eighteenth edition of the continental championship for rugby sevens in Europe. The series took place over two legs, the first at Moscow in Russia and the second at Łódź in Poland.


2019 Rugby Europe Sevens Grand Prix Series
France won in Moscow but Germany won the Łódź tournament to take out the series championship title for the first time.


2019 Rugby Europe Sevens Grand Prix Series
Germany, Italy and Portugal, as the three highest-placed nations without core team status on the World Rugby Sevens Series, gained entry to the inaugural World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series for a chance to qualify to the World Sevens Series in 2020–21.


2019 Rugby Europe Sevens Grand Prix Series
The Moscow leg of the tournament also served as a pre-qualifier for the 2020 Summer Olympics. The nine highest-placed eligible European teams from that tournament advanced to the Olympic regional qualifier held in Colomiers, France.


2019 Rugby Europe Sevens Grand Prix Series, Schedule
The official schedule for the 2019 Rugby Europe Sevens Grand Prix Series was:


2019 Rugby Europe Sevens Grand Prix Series, Series standings
Final standings over the two legs of the Grand Prix series:


2019 Rugby Europe Sevens Grand Prix Series, Series standings
As per Rugby Europe rules, France was placed higher than Ireland due to a better head-to-head record and superior points difference for the series. Italy was placed higher than Wales due to a superior points difference for the series.


2019 Rugby Europe Sevens Grand Prix Series, Series standings
By agreement between the three unions on the island of Great Britain (England, Scotland, Wales), England, as highest finisher among those nations in the 2017–18 World Rugby Sevens Series, represented Great Britain in qualifying for the 2020 Olympic Sevens. The final make-up of the Great Britain men's team was determined by the British Olympic Association.


2019 Rugby Europe Sevens Olympic Qualifying Tournament
The 2019 Rugby Europe Sevens Olympic Qualifying Tournament was held on 13–14 July in Colomiers at Stade Michel Bendichou. The champion of the tournament, England, qualified for the European spot in the 2020 Summer Olympics. The two runners-up, France and Ireland, advance to the 2020 Olympic repechage tournament.


2019 Rugby Europe Sevens Olympic Qualifying Tournament, Teams
Twelve teams take part in the tournament, of which nine teams qualified through the 2019 Moscow Sevens, and are seeded according to their placements. The remaining three spots were awarded based upon performance in the Trophy and Conference tournaments.


2019 Rugby Europe Sevens Trophy
The 2019 Rugby Europe Sevens Trophy is the second division of Rugby Europe's 2019 sevens season. This edition was hosted by the cities of Zagreb and Zenica on 15–23 June. The highest-placed teams are promoted to the 2021 Grand Prix, and will join the runner-up to compete in the European Olympic qualifying tournament. The two teams with the fewest points are relegated to the 2021 Conference. The winner was Lithuania.


2019 Rugby Europe Women's Championship
The 2019 Rugby Europe Women's Championship was the 23rd edition of Rugby Europe's top division competition for women's national rugby union teams, and the eleventh such tournament for which the European Championship title was awarded.


2019 Rugby Europe Women's Championship
The tournament was held from 23 February to 4 May 2019 as a knockout competition, with the four highest ranked teams in Europe not participating in the Women's Six Nations competing. For the first time the competition was not held in a single location - each match instead was hosted by the higher seeded team. Spain won the championship to take its fourth European title and third consecutive title and seventh overall.


2019 Rugby Europe Women's Championship, Format
The four teams, based on the world rankings at the time of issuing the tournament regulations, were assigned a seeding from 1 to 4, the highest being that of Spain and, subsequently, the Netherlands, Germany and Russia. The format was a four team semifinal bracket, with the teams seeded 1 and 2 meeting the teams seeded 4 and 3 respectively. A final for the title was played between the two semifinal winners and a match for third place was played by the defeated semifinal teams.


2019 Rugby Europe Women's Sevens Conference
The 2018 Rugby Europe Women's Sevens Conference was the third divisions of Rugby Europe's 2019 sevens season. It was held in Zagreb, Croatia on 15–16 June 2019, with the winner advancing to the European qualifying tournament, as well as the 2020 Women's Sevens Trophy alongside the runner-up.


2019 Rugby Europe Women's Sevens Grand Prix Series
The 2019 Rugby Europe Women's Sevens Grand Prix Series was the 2019 edition of Rugby Europe's annual rugby sevens season. The top placing non-core teams advanced to the 2020 Hong Kong Women's Sevens qualification tournament, and the two teams with the fewest points were relegated to the 2020 Trophy tournament. The Marcoussis leg of the tournament also served as a qualifier to the European qualifiers for the 2020 Summer Olympics, where seven teams aside from Wales and Scotland advanced.


2019 Rugby Europe Women's Sevens Olympic Qualifying Tournament
The 2019 Rugby Europe Women's Sevens Olympic Qualifying Tournament was held on 13–14 July in Kazan at Central Stadium. The champion of the tournament will be eligible to qualify for the European spot in the 2020 Summer Olympics. The two runners-up will be eligible for bids at a 2020 Olympic repechage tournament.


2019 Rugby Europe Women's Sevens Olympic Qualifying Tournament, Teams
Twelve teams take part in the tournament, of which seven teams qualified through the 2019 Marcoussis Sevens, and are seeded according to their placements. The remaining five spots were awarded based upon performance in the Trophy and Conference tournaments.


2019 Rugby Europe Women's Sevens Trophy
The 2019 Rugby Europe Women's Sevens Trophy is the second division of Rugby Europe's 2019 sevens season. This edition is due to be hosted by the cities of Budapest and Lisbon on 8–23 June. The two highest-placed teams will be promoted to the 2020 Grand Prix and eligible to compete in the European Olympic qualifying tournament. The two teams with the fewest points will be relegated to the 2020 Conference.


2019 Rugby League European play-off tournament
The 2019 Rugby League European play-off tournament was the final phase of European qualifying to the 2021 Rugby League World Cup, played in October and November 2019. It featured six nations, five of whom have come through the previous phases of European qualifying - 2018 European Championship, 2018 European Championship B and 2018–19 European Championship C. The competition was played in two groups of three with the winners and runners up in each group qualifying for the World Cup.


2019 Rugby League European play-off tournament, Teams and pool draw
The draw for the two groups was made on 12 December 2018. Teams with the same seeding will not play in the same group, each group will be a single round-robin with each team playing each other once. Group A was drawn as Ireland, Italy, and Spain, and Group B as Scotland, Russia, and the winners of the Euro C play-off game. Greece defeated Norway in May 2019 to take the position in Group B.


2019 Rugby League European play-off tournament, Teams and pool draw
In August 2019, it was announced that Russia were withdrawing from the competition and would be replaced by Serbia, who finished third in the 2018 Euro B tournament. No specific reason was given for Russia's withdrawal, though the decision was foreshadowed by allegations from the Serbian Rugby League that Russia's Association of Rugby League Clubs did not provide the necessary paperwork for VISA removal for their Australian-based players ahead of their Euro B match in Moscow in October 2018.


2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s
The 2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s was the first staging of the Rugby League World Cup 9s tournament and took place on 18 and 19 October 2019  at Sydney's Bankwest Stadium. The tournament featured teams from 12 International Rugby League member countries, 4 of which also fielded teams in the women's tournament. In the men's final, Australia defeated New Zealand, while in the women's final, New Zealand defeated Australia.


2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s, Rule variations
The standard rules of rugby league applied but with the following variations:


2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s, Teams
The competing teams were hand picked, and the selections were announced on 22 April 2019.


2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s, Teams
On 27 September 2019, the Tonga National Rugby League were suspended by the International Rugby League (IRL), pending an investigation into their board. Tonga were represented at the tournament by a "Tonga Invitatonal" team.


2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s, Match Officials
The NRL named the following 18 NRL match officials to handle the 28 matches.


2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s, Men's tournament, Pool stage
The pools were announced on 22 July 2019. The draw was announced on 4 August 2019.


2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s, Men's tournament, Pool stage, Pool B
Lebanon were stripped of their win over France due to fielding an ineligible player.


2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s, Controversy
On 19 October 2019, Lebanon's Jacob Kiraz and Jordan Samrani and Papua New Guinea women's players Sera Koroi and Joyce Waula were all suspended from the tournament for being under the age of 18.


2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s, Controversy
While the International Rugby League allows players 16 or older to play in Test matches, the National Rugby League (who ran the tournament) rules require that players must be 18 or older.


2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s, Controversy
Kiraz, who would not turn 18 until November 2019, was the only one of the four to play a game, coming off the bench in Lebanon's 12–8 win over France. Lebanon were stripped of the two competition points earned for their win as a result.


2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s squads
The 2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s was an international rugby league tournament played in the rugby league nines format, to be held in Australia on 18 and 19 October 2019. Twelve national teams will be competing, with four of those also fielding women's teams. The squads will consist of 16 players.


2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s squads
Players' positions are listed as either backs (BK) or forwards (FW). Their age is given as of the tournament's opening day, 18 October 2019.


2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s squads, Pool A, Australia
Australia named their 16-man squad on 7 October 2019. Cody Walker and Curtis Scott were originally named, but withdrew. They were replaced by Daly Cherry-Evans and Campbell Graham respectively.


2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s squads, Pool A, New Zealand
New Zealand named their 16-man squad on 9 October 2019. James Fisher-Harris and Jordan Rapana were originally named, but withdrew and were replaced by Zane Tetevano and Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad respectively. Braden Hamlin-Uele was ruled out after the final squads had been finalised. Adam Blair was brought in as a late replacement.


2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s squads, Pool A, Papua New Guinea
PNG named their 16-man squad on 1 October 2019. James Segeyaro and Lachlan Lam were originally named, but were replaced by Moses Meninga and Wartovo Puara.


2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s squads, Pool A, United States
The United States named a 20-man training squad on 3 September 2019. The final 16-man squad was announced on 10 October 2019.


2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s squads, Pool B, England
England named their 16-man squad on 6 October 2019. Jack Hughes was originally named, but withdrew due to injury. He was replaced by Blake Austin.


2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s squads, Pool B, France
France named a 17-man squad on 2 October 2019. Lilian Albert was originally named but withdrew.


2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s squads, Pool B, Lebanon
Lebanon named their 16-man squad on 10 October 2019. Anthony Layoun was originally named but was replaced by Jordan Samrani. Jacob Kiraz and Jordan Samrani were ruled ineligible to participate due to being under the age of 18. Kiraz took the field against France, however.


2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s squads, Pool B, Wales
Wales named a 23-man training squad on 16 September. The final 16-man squad was announced on 9 October 2019.


2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s squads, Pool C, Fiji
Fiji named their 16-man squad on 10 October 2019. Mikaele Ravalawa was originally named but was replaced by Semi Valemei.


2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s squads, Pool C, Tonga
Tonga named their 16-man squad on 11 October 2019. Included in the squad was two players named "Sione Katoa" - Sione Katoa (born 1997; a winger) and Sione Katoa (born 1995; a hooker). The latter is referred to by his full name, Sione Utia-Katoa, for clarity.


2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s squads, Women, Australia
Australia named their 17-person squad on 7 October 2019. Brittany Breayley and Tamika Upton were originally named but withdrew and were replaced by Tarryn Aiken.


2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s squads, Women, England
England women's squad was named on 2 August 2019. Shannon Lacey was ruled out by injury, and was replaced by Georgia Wilson.


2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s squads, Women, New Zealand
New Zealand women's squad was named on 9 October. Lavinia Gould was originally named but was replaced by Kanyon Paul.


2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s squads, Women, Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea women's squad was named on 1 October. Shae-Yvonne De La Cruz and Veronica Waula were originally named but were replaced by Gloria Kaupa and Mellisa Peters. Sera Koroi and Joyce Waula were ruled ineligible to participate due to being under the age of 18.


2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s – Men's tournament
The men's tournament in the 2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s was held at Bankwest Stadium in Sydney on 18 and 19 October 2019.


2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s – Women's tournament
The women's tournament in the 2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s will be held at Bankwest Stadium in Sydney on 18 and 19 October 2019.


2019 Rugby World Cup
The 2019 Rugby World Cup was the ninth edition of the Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It was hosted in Japan from 20 September to 2 November in 12 venues all across the country. The opening match was played at Ajinomoto Stadium in Chōfu, Tokyo, with the final match being held at International Stadium Yokohama in Yokohama. This was the first time that the tournament had taken place in Asia and outside the traditional Tier 1 rugby nations.


2019 Rugby World Cup
The tournament saw the first cancellation of matches at the Rugby World Cup with Typhoon Hagibis affecting three matches due to the expected impact on safety that the typhoon would have.


2019 Rugby World Cup
South Africa beat England 32−12 in the final to claim their third title, equalling New Zealand's record. In doing so, South Africa became the first team to win the title after losing a match in the pool stage. The defending champions, New Zealand, finished third after defeating Wales in the bronze final.


2019 Rugby World Cup, Host country selection
The International Rugby Board (IRB) requested that any members wishing to host the 2015 Rugby World Cup and/or the 2019 event should indicate their interest by 15 August 2008, though no details had to be provided at that stage. A record 10 unions responded, with the 2019 tournament of interest to nine nations. Russia initially announced plans to bid for both events, but withdrew both in February 2009 in favour of what proved to be a successful bid for the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens. Australia withdrew from the bidding process on 6 May 2009.


2019 Rugby World Cup, Host country selection
The three potential hosts – Italy, Japan and South Africa – were announced on 8 May 2009. At a special meeting held in Dublin on 28 July 2009, the IRB confirmed that England would be hosts in 2015 and Japan in 2019, with the approval of the tournament organisers Rugby World Cup Ltd (RWC Ltd), going in favour 16–10.


2019 Rugby World Cup, Venues
The IRB (which was renamed World Rugby in November 2014), RWC Ltd, the Japan Rugby Football Union (JRFU) and host organisers Japan 2019 went through a process of asking for expressions of interest and meeting with and explaining game hosting requirements to interested parties from late 2013. In May 2014, it was announced that 22 municipal and prefectural organisations across Japan had expressed interest. Those organisations were asked to enter formal bids by 31 October 2014. On 5 November, organisers announced that 14 bids had been received.


2019 Rugby World Cup, Venues
Hong Kong and Singapore had expressed interest in hosting some of the matches and were included in Japan's bid, but were not among the 14 stadiums announced in 2014. Nissan Stadium in Yokohama, venue for the 2002 FIFA World Cup Final and Niigata's Denka Big Swan Stadium, also a World Cup venue, decided not to bid.


2019 Rugby World Cup, Venues
Several changes to the venues submitted in the JRFU's original 2009 bid were made. The JRFU's own Chichibunomiya Stadium in Tokyo, suitable for smaller interest games in the capital, was not included in the plan. The JRFU selected the larger and more modern 50,000-seat Nagai multi-purpose stadium as its preferred venue for games in Osaka, though East Osaka City, which had taken over the Hanazono Rugby Stadium from long-time corporate owners Kintetsu in April 2015, submitted a joint bid with Osaka Municipality, intending to refurbish the stadium.


2019 Rugby World Cup, Venues
Kamaishi, Shizuoka, Kyoto, Ōita, Nagasaki and Kumamoto were also not part of the JRFU's bid. While the bids included venues from a broad area of Japan, two areas were not involved in hosting: Hokushin'etsu (Hokuriku and Kōshin'etsu regions), which includes the city of Niigata; and the Chūgoku region, which includes Hiroshima and the nearby island of Shikoku. No city in Chūgoku hosted games at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, but Hiroshima did host games in the 2006 FIBA World Championship.


2019 Rugby World Cup, Venues
The new National Stadium in Tokyo being constructed for the 2020 Summer Olympics was expected to be the primary venue of the tournament. However, the original plans were scrapped and rebid in 2015 due to criticism over its design and increasing costs. As a consequence, it would no longer be completed in time. The fixtures assigned to the stadium were re-located, with the opening match moved to Ajinomoto Stadium and the final moved to Nissan Stadium in Yokohama.


2019 Rugby World Cup, Qualifying
The top three teams from the pools at the 2015 World Cup received an automatic spot, with the remaining eight teams coming from the qualifying series around the world. Six of the remaining eight spots available were filled by regional qualifiers with the additional two spots being filled in play-off. Qualifying was split into five regional groups; Africa, Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania.


2019 Rugby World Cup, Qualifying
On 1 July 2017, the United States became the first team to qualify after defeating Canada in the two-leg match to qualify as America 1. The following two weeks saw Fiji and Tonga booking their spots as Oceania 1 and 2 respectively. Samoa later confirmed their spot as the third Oceanic team with a win over Germany in a two-legged tie the following year. In January 2018, Uruguay became the fourth team to qualify with a 10-point victory over Canada across the two legs to book a spot as Americas 2.


2019 Rugby World Cup, Qualifying
In March, Romania initially qualified to take the spot as Europe 1. But after complaints from the Spanish into an investigation of ineligible players, it was deemed that Romania, Spain and Belgium all broke the eligibility rules and was deducted points which meant Russia qualified through to the World Cup while Germany headed to the play-off against Samoa. In August, Namibia became the final team to qualify from the continental tournaments after defeating Kenya in the final round of the Rugby Africa Gold Cup. The final spot was decided by a repechage tournament in Marseille in November 2018, which was won by Canada after winning all three of their games.


2019 Rugby World Cup, Draw
The pool draw took place on 10 May 2017, in Kyoto. The draw was moved from its traditional place of December in the year following the previous World Cup, after the November internationals, so that nations had a longer period of time to increase their world rankings ahead of the draw.


2019 Rugby World Cup, Draw
The seeding system from previous Rugby World Cups was retained with the 12 automatic qualifiers from 2015 being allocated to their respective bands based on their World Rugby Rankings on the day of the draw:


2019 Rugby World Cup, Draw
The remaining two bands were made up of the eight qualifying teams, with allocation to each band being based on the previous Rugby World Cup playing strength:


2019 Rugby World Cup, Draw
This meant the 20 teams, qualified and qualifiers, were seeded thus (world ranking as of 10 May 2017):


2019 Rugby World Cup, Draw
The draw saw a representative randomly draw a ball from a pot; the first drawn ball went to Pool A, the second Pool B, the third Pool C and the fourth Pool D.


2019 Rugby World Cup, Squads
Each team submitted a squad of 31 players for the tournament, the same as the 2015 tournament. These squads were to be submitted to World Rugby with the deadline being 8 September with the United States being the last team to reveal their squad on 6 September.


2019 Rugby World Cup, Match officials
World Rugby named the following 12 referees, seven assistant referees and four television match officials to handle the 48 matches:


2019 Rugby World Cup, Opening ceremony
The opening ceremony took place at Ajinomoto Stadium in Tokyo on 20 September 2019 at 18:30 (JST). The ceremony featured a showcase of traditional and modern Japanese culture, as well as the culture of rugby union, and told the story of the evolution of rugby union in Japan. New Zealand's Richie McCaw, who captained the All Blacks to the World Cup title in 2015, performed a ceremonial handover of the Webb Ellis Cup. Six jet aircraft of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force's Blue Impulse aerobatic team flew over the stadium.


2019 Rugby World Cup, Opening ceremony
Kiyoe Yoshioka of Japanese pop-rock band Ikimono-gakari sang World in Union, the official song of the Rugby World Cup. The tournament was officially declared open by Fumihito, Prince Akishino of Japan; both he and World Rugby chairman Sir Bill Beaumont gave speeches at the end of the ceremony, with Beaumont saying:


2019 Rugby World Cup, Opening ceremony
"Over the next six weeks we will experience the very best of rugby and the very best of Japan as excitement sweeps this great nation. I know Japan will be the most welcoming of hosts, you are the best. The waiting is over and the stage is set. It’s now over to the teams and the fans to make this the best World Cup ever."


2019 Rugby World Cup, Pool stage
The 20 teams are divided into four pools of five teams. Each pool is a single round-robin of 10 games, in which each team plays one match against each of the other teams in the same pool. Teams are awarded four league points for a win, two for a draw and none for a defeat. A team scoring four tries in a match is awarded a bonus point, as is a team that loses by seven points or fewer – both bonus points are awarded if both situations apply. The teams finishing in the top two of each pool advance to the quarter-finals. The top three teams of each pool received automatic qualification to the 2023 Rugby World Cup.


2019 Rugby World Cup, Pool stage
If two or more teams are tied on match points, the following tiebreakers apply:


2019 Rugby World Cup, Pool stage
If three teams were tied on points, the above criteria would be used to decide first place in the pool and then the criteria would be used again (starting from criterion 1) to decide second place in the pool.


2019 Rugby World Cup, Pool stage
Pld = Number of games played; W = Number of games won; D = Number of games drawn; L = Number of games lost; TF = Number of tries scored (tries for); PF = Total number of points scored by the team (points for); PA = Total number of points scored against the team (points against); +/− = Points difference, PF−PA; BP = Bonus pool points; Pts = Total number of pool points


2019 Rugby World Cup, Pool stage, Pool A
The opening match of the 2019 Rugby World Cup was played in Pool A with Japan scoring a 30–10 win over Russia. Kotaro Matsushima became the first Japanese player to score a hat-trick at a World Cup. For the Russian side, Kirill Golosnitsky scored the first try of the tournament after four minutes – the fastest try ever scored in the opening match of a World Cup. Two days later, Ireland defeated Scotland 27–3. On 24 September, Samoa played their first match against Russia in Kumagaya.


2019 Rugby World Cup, Pool stage, Pool A
Despite Samoa's being reduced to 13 men after Rey Lee-Lo and Motu Matu'u were sin-binned within two minutes of each other, Russia could not capitalise on their advantage and Samoa went on to win 34–9. Four days later, hosts Japan defeated Ireland 19–12, scoring four out of six penalties. While it was an upset win for Japan, World Rugby later admitted three of the four offside penalties were incorrectly awarded to Japan. Kenki Fukuoka scored a try in the 58th minute to give Japan a two-point lead after Ireland's Garry Ringrose and Rob Kearney had scored the opening two tries. Yu Tamura's conversion and fourth successful penalty kick sealed the result for Japan. Scotland recorded their first victory of the World Cup with a 34–0 whitewash victory over Samoa in muggy conditions in Kobe, with Samoan captain Jack Lam stating that the rugby ball was "a bar of soap."


2019 Rugby World Cup, Pool stage, Pool A
Three days later, Kobe Misaki Stadium held another match in Pool A – this time it was Ireland, who whitewashed their opponents (Russia) in a 35–0 victory with five different players getting tries for the Irish. The Irish though, did not have everything go right with Jordi Murphy being subbed off in the 27th minute due to a possible rib injury, which added to the Irish back row pain after losing Jack Conan earlier in the tournament.


2019 Rugby World Cup, Pool stage, Pool A
Japan recorded their third victory over Samoa in Toyota with a 85th minute try from Kotaro Matsushima sealing the Japanese a 38–19 bonus point victory. Russia in the final match of the tournament was hammered by Scotland 61–0 with George Horne scoring a hat-trick as the Scots became the first team in World Cup history to not a concede a point from two World Cup matches. A red card to Bundee Aki in the 29th minute forced Ireland to go down to 14 men but that was the only blemish with Ireland winning 47–5 over Samoa in Fukuoka.


2019 Rugby World Cup, Pool stage, Pool A
Johnny Sexton scoring two tries for the Irish. The typhoon saw the Japan–Scotland match under threat with the Scottish Rugby Union demanding legal action if it was cancelled. But after an inspection deemed the match to go ahead, Japan held their nerve against a fast-finishing Scotland to take home a 28–21 victory with Kenki Fukuoka scoring two tries. The win saw Japan become the first Tier 2 team to qualify since 2007, as they topped the group while Ireland finished in second place.


2019 Rugby World Cup, Pool stage, Pool B
Pool B started with New Zealand beating South Africa 23–13. New Zealand opened their scoring with two tries in four minutes from George Bridge and Scott Barrett giving New Zealand a 17–3 lead at half-time. Pieter-Steph du Toit scored a converted try to bring the score back to 17–10 but two penalties from Richie Mo'unga and Beauden Barrett sealed the result. In Higashiōsaka, Italy conceded an early try against Namibia before running away with a bonus-point victory by 25 points. Italy earned a second bonus-point victory in Fukuoka, scoring seven tries in a 48–7 demolition of Canada.


2019 Rugby World Cup, Pool stage, Pool B
Over in Toyota, South Africa defeated Namibia by 54 points, scoring nine tries while Namibia could manage only a Cliven Loubser penalty in the 23rd minute. New Zealand recorded their second victory of the World Cup with a 63–0 victory over Canada at Ōita Stadium. For New Zealand, Brad Weber scored his first two tries in international rugby with the Barrett brothers (Jordie Barrett, Beauden Barrett and Scott Barrett) each scoring a try as they became the first trio of brothers to start for New Zealand.


2019 Rugby World Cup, Pool stage, Pool B
New Zealand continued their demolition of their opponents with a 62-point win over Namibia in Chōfu, with the floodgates opening in the second half after Namibia restricted the All Blacks to 24 points in the first half. Sevu Reece, Ben Smith and Anton Lienert-Brown scoring two tries in the match. Between the two New Zealand games, South Africa romped over Italy with Cheslin Kolbe scoring two tries as the South Africans won 49–3 in Fukuroi.


2019 Rugby World Cup, Pool stage, Pool B
This was followed by a 66–7 victory over Canada with Cobus Reinach scoring the fastest hat-trick in World Cup history, with his three tries being scored in a space of 11 minutes. The final two matches of the group were not played as Typhoon Hagibis saw the cancellation of the New Zealand–Italy and Namibia–Canada matches. At the end of the pool stage, New Zealand finished on top of the table with South Africa finishing second.


2019 Rugby World Cup, Pool stage, Pool C
Pool C's opening match saw Argentina come back from a 17-point half-time deficit against France at Tokyo Stadium, only for France's Camille Lopez to score a game-winning drop goal in the 70th minute to win 23–21. In Sapporo, two tries from Manu Tuilagi helped England to a bonus-point victory over Tonga.


2019 Rugby World Cup, Pool stage, Pool C
England followed that up with a 38-point victory over the United States, with Joe Cokanasiga scoring two tries in the victory; however, the match was soured by the first red card of the tournament, shown to the United States' John Quill for a shoulder charge to the head of England's Owen Farrell.


2019 Rugby World Cup, Pool stage, Pool C
Argentina bounced back from their defeat by France with a 28–12 victory over Tonga in Higashiōsaka; all of Argentina's scoring happened in the first 28 minutes, including a hat-trick from Julián Montoya as they raced to a 28-point lead before Tonga brought the margin back to 16 with two tries of their own. After Typhoon Mitag almost cancelled the match, the French were inconsistent with errors keeping the United States in the match before three late tries in the second half secured a 33–9 win in Fukuoka.


2019 Rugby World Cup, Pool stage, Pool C
In Chōfu, England qualified for the quarter-finals with a 39–10 victory over Argentina with Argentinean player Tomás Lavanini being shown a red card, which forced Argentina down to 14 men as he was forced off due to a high tackle on Owen Farrell's head. France later joined them in qualifying for the knockout stage with a two-point victory over Tonga at Kumamoto Stadium.


2019 Rugby World Cup, Pool stage, Pool C
After conceding the first 17 points of the match, Tonga came back into the match with tries from Sonatane Takulua and Mali Hingano to close the gap to only three points before Romain Ntamack gave the cushion that France needed with two penalties in eight minutes giving France the victory. Argentina became the first team to finish their matches of the 2019 World Cup, with a 47–17 victory over the United States in Kumagaya. Joaquín Tuculet and Juan Cruz Mallia each scored two tries in the meeting, their first since 2003.


2019 Rugby World Cup, Pool stage, Pool C
After the England–France game was cancelled due to Typhoon Hagibis, Tonga ended their World Cup campaign with a 31–19 victory over the United States. This was due to the Tongan's using their opportunities with them converting into tries and despite the United States being within striking range with three minutes to go, Telusa Veainu converted the match-winning try and a bonus-point victory for Tonga. At the end of the pool stage, it was England winning the group with France finishing in second place.


2019 Rugby World Cup, Pool stage, Pool D
Pool D opened with Australia beating Fiji by 18 points in Sapporo after Fiji led by two points at half-time. Australia scored four tries in the second half for the bonus point. Wales beat Georgia 43–14 at City of Toyota Stadium, after leading 29–0 at half-time and 22–0 after three tries in the first 19 minutes. In Kamaishi, Fiji scored the opening try against Uruguay. Two mistakes within eight minutes gave Teros the lead before a try from Juan Manuel Cat enhanced it to 12 points at half-time.


2019 Rugby World Cup, Pool stage, Pool D
Three Fijian tries in the second half were to no avail as two penalty goals from Felipe Berchesi gave Uruguay their first win in a World Cup since 2003. In Kumagaya on 29 September, Georgia recorded a 33–7 win over Uruguay. Dominant work by their forwards in the second half laid the foundation for the bonus-point victory. Over in Chōfu, Dan Biggar scored the fastest drop goal in World Cup history as Wales led 23–8 at the half. Two second-half tries from Australia brought the scores to within a point but the Welsh held out for a 29–25 win.


2019 Rugby World Cup, Pool stage, Pool D
A second half performance from Fiji at a wet Hanazono Rugby Stadium saw the Fijians record their first win of their 2019 World Cup campaign as they won 45–10 over Georgia. This was partly due to Semi Radradra scoring two tries while also aiding in setting up three more tries as Fiji scored seven tries to one in the bonus-point victory.


2019 Rugby World Cup, Pool stage, Pool D
Another slow start for the Australians in their game with Uruguay did not stop them from recording a win over the South Americans, with Tevita Kuridrani and Dane Haylett-Petty each getting two tries in the 35-point victory at Ōita Stadium. Four days later at the same stadium, Fiji got off to a 10–0 lead with the tries coming from Josua Tuisova and Kini Murimurivalu within eight minutes. Fiji held their lead until the 31st minute when Josh Adams scored his second try of three for the match.


2019 Rugby World Cup, Pool stage, Pool D
Wales increased their lead from there to win 29–17, qualifying for the quarter-finals with Australia. The penultimate match of Pool D saw Australia outlast a tough Georgia in difficult conditions in Fukuroi, as they won 27–8. Wales finished undefeated with a 35–13 win over Uruguay at Kumamoto Stadium to record a bonus-point victory and set up a quarter-final with France while Australia came in second.


2019 Rugby World Cup, Knockout stage
The knockout stage of the Rugby World Cup consisted of three single-elimination rounds leading to a final and a third-place playoff. Following a tie in regulation time, two 10-minute periods of extra time would be used to determine a winner. If the scores are tied at the end of extra time, an additional 10-minute "sudden death" period is played, with the first team to score any points being declared the winner. If the score remains tied at the end of extra time, a kicking competition would ensue.


2019 Rugby World Cup, Knockout stage, Quarter-finals
The first two quarter-finals were played on Saturday. The first quarter-final saw England defeat Australia 40–16 at Ōita Stadium. Two tries from Jonny May, plus the 18 turnovers that the Australians conceded and led to two more being scored by England, sealed the result which saw Michael Cheika resign from the role as Australian manager. The following match saw New Zealand book their spot in the semi-finals, with the All Blacks cruising to a 46–14 win over Ireland at Tokyo Stadium. Aaron Smith scored two of the All Blacks' seven tries, with the Irish only getting on the board in the 69th minute from a Robbie Henshaw converted try. A penalty try was then added seven minutes later.


2019 Rugby World Cup, Knockout stage, Quarter-finals
The other two quarter-finals were played the following day. In the opening match, France got off to an early 12–0 lead with Sébastien Vahaamahina and Charles Ollivon both scoring tries in the first eight minutes. Aaron Wainwright opened the Welsh account with a try in the 12th minute before Virimi Vakatawa scored the French's third, giving them a 19–10 lead at the break.


2019 Rugby World Cup, Knockout stage, Quarter-finals
Nine minutes into the second half, France went down to 14 men with Sébastien Vahaamahina being red-carded for an elbow to Aaron Wainwright as Wales went on to win the match 20–19 with a 74th minute try to Ross Moriarty. In the last quarter-final match, it was South Africa who claimed a 26–3 win over Japan with Makazole Mapimpi scoring two tries in the victory.


2019 Rugby World Cup, Knockout stage, Semi-finals
In the first semi-final, England took on New Zealand in front of 68,843 spectators in Yokohama. In response to New Zealand's haka, England's players stood in a V-shape formation, for which they were later fined having crossed the halfway line. England scored the opening points of the game in the second minute with a try from Manu Tuilagi, converted by Owen Farrell. After two penalties on either side of the half, the All Blacks responded in the 57th minute to close the gap to six points with a converted try from Ardie Savea, but two later penalties in the 63rd and the 69th confirmed England's spot in the final.


2019 Rugby World Cup, Knockout stage, Semi-finals
The second semi-final was also played in Yokohama, as the 67,750 spectators in attendance saw South Africa take on Wales for a spot against England in the final. South Africa took a 9–6 lead into half-time, but Biggar levelled the scores with a penalty kick six minutes into the second half. Damian de Allende then scored the first try of the match in the 57th minute, fending off two Welsh tacklers to score from 20 metres out.


2019 Rugby World Cup, Knockout stage, Semi-finals
Wales again equalised thanks to Josh Adams scoring down the short side from an attacking scrum on the South African five-metre line; however, they were penalised for collapsing a maul with five minutes left in the game, allowing Pollard to kick the winning points and book South Africa a spot in the final.


2019 Rugby World Cup, Knockout stage, Bronze final
The bronze medal was won by New Zealand in a convincing win over Wales.


2019 Rugby World Cup, Knockout stage, Final
England started as favourites for the final, but they had an unfortunate start to the game as Kyle Sinckler was substituted in the third minute after colliding with Maro Itoje, leaving England with only one tighthead prop. South Africa tight forwards Bongi Mbonambi and Lood de Jager left the field through injuries in the 21st minute. During the first half the only points scored were from penalties, with South Africa leading 12–6 at half time after several handling errors by England. England came close to scoring a try, but did not manage to score after 26 phases.


2019 Rugby World Cup, Knockout stage, Final
Two more successful penalties on either side made the score 18–12 at the beginning of the second half. Makazole Mapimpi scored the first try in the 66th minute, making South Africa's lead 25–12 after the conversion while becoming the first Springbok to score a try in a World Cup final. Cheslin Kolbe followed up with another try eight minutes later, making the final score 32–12.


2019 Rugby World Cup, Typhoon Hagibis and match cancellations
On 10 October, World Rugby and the Japan Rugby 2019 Organising Committee announced that, due to the predicted weather caused by Typhoon Hagibis, the Pool B meeting between New Zealand and Italy and the Pool C meeting between England and France had been cancelled. The decisions had been made on safety grounds with considerations on the expected impact the typhoon would have on Tokyo, including likely public transport shutdown or disruption. This was the first ever occasion any Rugby World Cup match had been cancelled. Decision on cancellation of pool games scheduled for 13 October was made on the day of the game, including the match between Japan and Scotland.


2019 Rugby World Cup, Typhoon Hagibis and match cancellations
On the evening of 12 October Japan Standard Time (JST), World Rugby and the Japan 2019 Organising Committee released a statement that they had advised Namibia and Canada of the possibility of their game being cancelled, with the typhoon predicted to impact Kamaishi. On 13 October, World Rugby and the Japan 2019 Organising Committee announced the cancellation of the Namibia–Canada game in Kamaishi. The decision was made following a level 5 evacuation order in the city on the day of the match following the typhoon. Canada's national team stayed in Kamaishi to help out local residents with their cleanup efforts. The Namibia national team interacted with fans in the campsite Miyako City.


2019 Rugby World Cup, Typhoon Hagibis and match cancellations
Shortly after the announcement of the cancellation of the Namibia–Canada game, it was confirmed that the matches between Wales and Uruguay and the United States and Tonga would go ahead as scheduled. By noon on 12 October, it was confirmed that the match between Japan and Scotland was unaffected by the typhoon and would take place as scheduled, in front of spectators who had previously feared that they might have missed out with the game played behind closed doors.


2019 Rugby World Cup, Typhoon Hagibis and match cancellations
In line with tournament rules, the canceled pool matches were declared as drawn, the points being shared two each with no score registered. With these cancellations, France were unable to compete for the top pool position (held by England at the time), with a victory to secure that place. For Italy, however, the cancellation effectively eliminated them from the tournament; a victory against defending champions New Zealand could have seen them qualify for the knock-out stage, dependent on the margin of the win. This also had implications on whether South Africa finished top of their pool or as runners-up, having already confirmed their progression to the quarter-finals.


2019 Rugby World Cup, Broadcasting
For the first time, the domestic rights holder did not serve as the host broadcaster of the tournament. Instead, International Games Broadcast Services (IGBS), a joint venture between Host Broadcast Services (HBS) and IMG, handled production of the footage distributed to rights holders. IGBS used production resources from traditional rugby nations such as Australia, France, New Zealand, South Africa and the United Kingdom. Japanese broadcaster NHK covered selected games in 8K resolution, using a combination of nine 8K cameras and up-converted 4K resolution footage from IGBS. The International Broadcast Centre was located outside Ajinomoto Stadium.


2019 Rugby World Cup, Broadcasting
World Rugby streamed the tournament on its website for unsold markets. Sport24 was the rights holder for in-flight/in-ship broadcast. In South Africa, pay television channel SuperSport had broadcasting rights. To enable the whole country to watch, the free-to-air South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) broadcast the final after they reached an agreement with MultiChoice.


2019 Rugby World Cup, Notes
Typhoon Hagibis caused the matches New Zealand versus Italy and England versus France to be cancelled and recorded as 0–0 draws.


2019 Rugby World Cup, Notes
Typhoon Hagibis and an associated evacuation order for Kamaishi caused the match between Namibia and Canada to be cancelled and recorded as a 0–0 draw.


2019 Rugby World Cup Final
The 2019 Rugby World Cup Final was a rugby union match played on 2 November 2019 at the International Stadium Yokohama in Yokohama, Japan. It marked the culmination of the 2019 Rugby World Cup and was played between England and South Africa, a rematch of the 2007 Rugby World Cup Final.


2019 Rugby World Cup Final
The match saw South Africa claim their third Rugby World Cup title with a 32–12 victory, with tries from Makazole Mapimpi and Cheslin Kolbe adding to six penalties and two conversions from Handré Pollard. The official player of the match was South Africa's number eight, Duane Vermeulen.


2019 Rugby World Cup Final
The match was the United Kingdom's most watched TV broadcast in 2019 with a peak audience of 12.8 million watching on ITV.


2019 Rugby World Cup Final, Route to the final
England's final pool match with France was called off on safety grounds due to the impact caused by Typhoon Hagibis; according to tournament rules, the result was declared a 0–0 draw.


2019 Rugby World Cup Final, Route to the final, England
England reached the final after topping their pool with bonus point wins against Tonga, the United States and Argentina. Their final group match against France was cancelled due to Typhoon Hagibis and was recorded as a scoreless draw. In the quarter-finals, England played Australia at Oita Stadium, Ōita. England won 40–16 thanks to two tries from Jonny May and one each from Kyle Sinckler and Anthony Watson, all converted by Owen Farrell, who also added four penalties. In the semi-final at Yokohama Stadium, England played the reigning champions New Zealand.


2019 Rugby World Cup Final, Route to the final, England
England beat the All Blacks 19–7, breaking New Zealand's 18-match winning streak at World Cups, with a try from Manu Tuilagi converted by Farrell, and four penalties from George Ford. This was England's fourth appearance in a World Cup final, having last been world champions in 2003. They had also reached the final in 1991, when they lost to Australia, and 2007, losing to South Africa. Prior to the Final, England called up Saracens scrum-half Ben Spencer as a late replacement for Willi Heinz who had suffered a hamstring injury during the semi-final against New Zealand. England named an unchanged starting team for the final.


2019 Rugby World Cup Final, Route to the final, South Africa
South Africa's World Cup campaign began with a loss to New Zealand in their opening match in the pool, but they followed it up with bonus-point wins over Namibia, Canada and Italy to progress in second place in Pool B. In the quarter-finals, they played the hosts Japan, winning 26–3 through two tries from Makazole Mapimpi and one from Faf de Klerk, with one conversion and three penalties from Handré Pollard.


2019 Rugby World Cup Final, Route to the final, South Africa
In the semi-final, they played Wales and won 19–16 due to a converted try from Damian de Allende and four penalties from Pollard, including the match-winner in the 76th minute. This was South Africa's third appearance in the World Cup final, following victories over New Zealand on home soil in 1995 and England in France in 2007. South Africa made only one change for the final with Cheslin Kolbe replacing S'busiso Nkosi on the right wing.


2019 Rugby World Cup Final, Match, Details
Assistant referees:Romain Poite (France)Ben O'Keeffe (New Zealand)Television match official:Ben Skeen (New Zealand)Sideline official:Nigel Owens (Wales)


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool A
Pool A of the 2019 Rugby World Cup began on 20 September 2019. The pool included hosts Japan, and previous 2015 Rugby World Cup quarter-finalists Ireland and Scotland. They were joined by the European qualifier, Russia, and Samoa, the winner of the European-Oceania Cross-Regional play-off.


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool A
Japan won all four of their matches, including surprise victories over both Ireland and Scotland, to finish top of the pool and become the first Asian nation to reach a Rugby World Cup quarter-final. Ireland picked up a bonus point in each of their matches, and their victory over Scotland in their opening pool match proved the difference between the two sides in the hunt for second place. Samoa finished in fourth place, their only win coming against bottom-placed Russia.


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool A, Overview
The opening match of the 2019 Rugby World Cup was played in Pool A with Japan scoring a 30–10 win over Russia. Kotaro Matsushima became the first Japanese player to score a hat-trick at a World Cup. For the Russian side, Kirill Golosnitsky scored the first try of the tournament after four minutes – the fastest try ever scored in the opening match of a World Cup. Two days later, Ireland defeated Scotland 27–3. On 24 September, Samoa played their first match against Russia in Kumagaya.


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool A, Overview
Despite Samoa's being reduced to 13 men after Rey Lee-Lo and Motu Matu'u were sin-binned within two minutes of each other, Russia could not capitalise on their advantage and Samoa went on to win 34–9. Four days later, hosts Japan defeated Ireland 19–12, scoring four out of six penalties. While it was an upset win for Japan, World Rugby later admitted three of the four offside penalties were incorrectly awarded to Japan. Kenki Fukuoka scored a try in the 58th minute to give Japan a two-point lead after Ireland's Garry Ringrose and Rob Kearney had scored the opening two tries. Yu Tamura's conversion and fourth successful penalty kick sealed the result for Japan. Scotland recorded their first victory of the World Cup with a 34–0 whitewash victory over Samoa in muggy conditions in Kobe, with Samoan captain Jack Lam stating that the rugby ball was "a bar of soap."


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool A, Overview
Three days later, Kobe Misaki Stadium held another match in Pool A – this time it was Ireland, who would whitewash their opponents (Russia) in a 35–0 victory with five different players getting tries for the Irish. The Irish though, did not have everything go right with Jordi Murphy being subbed off in the 27th minute due to a possible rib injury, which added to the Irish back row pain after losing Jack Conan earlier in the tournament.


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool A, Overview
Japan recorded their third victory over Samoa in Toyota with a 85th minute try from Kotaro Matsushima sealing the Japanese a 38–19 bonus point victory. Russia in the final match of the tournament was hammered by Scotland 61–0 with George Horne scoring a hat-trick as the Scots became the first team in World Cup history to not concede a point from two World Cup matches. A red card to Bundee Aki in the 29th minute forced Ireland to go down to 14 men but that was the only blemish with Ireland winning 47–5 over Samoa in Fukuoka.


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool A, Overview
Johnny Sexton scoring two tries for the Irish. Typhoon Hagibis saw the Japan–Scotland match under threat with the Scottish Rugby Union demanding legal action if it was cancelled. But after an inspection deemed the match to go ahead, Japan held their nerve against a fast-finishing Scotland to take home a 28–21 victory with Kenki Fukuoka scoring two tries. The win saw Japan become the first Tier 2 team to qualify since 2007, as they topped the group while Ireland finished in second place.


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool A, Japan vs Russia
Assistant referees:Nic Berry (Australia)Matthew Carley (England)Television match official:Ben Skeen (New Zealand)


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool A, Ireland vs Scotland
Assistant referees:Pascal Gaüzère (France)Alexandre Ruiz (France)Television match official:Graham Hughes (England)


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool A, Russia vs Samoa
Assistant referees:Jérôme Garcès (France)Brendon Pickerill (New Zealand)Television match official:Graham Hughes (England)


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool A, Japan vs Ireland
Assistant referees:Jérôme Garcès (France)Matthew Carley (England)Television match official:Ben Skeen (New Zealand)


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool A, Scotland vs Samoa
Assistant referees:Nigel Owens (Wales)Federico Anselmi (Argentina)Television match official:Graham Hughes (England)


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool A, Ireland vs Russia
Assistant referees:Mathieu Raynal (France)Brendon Pickerill (New Zealand)Television match official:Ben Skeen (New Zealand)


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool A, Japan vs Samoa
Assistant referees:Angus Gardner (Australia)Federico Anselmi (Argentina)Television match official:Graham Hughes (England)


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool A, Scotland vs Russia
Assistant referees:Alexandre Ruiz (France)Federico Anselmi (Argentina)Television match official:Marius Jonker (South Africa)


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool A, Ireland vs Samoa
Assistant referees:Romain Poite (France)Brendon Pickerill (New Zealand)Television match official:Rowan Kitt (England)


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool A, Japan vs Scotland
Assistant referees:Mathieu Raynal (France)Matthew Carley (England)Television match official:Marius Jonker (South Africa)


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool B
Pool B of the 2019 Rugby World Cup began on 21 September 2019. The pool included title holders New Zealand and third-placed team from 2015 South Africa, while Italy also joined the pool after finishing third in their pool in 2015. They were joined by the African qualifier, Namibia, and the repechage winner, Canada.


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool B
Neither of the final two matches in the pool were played due to the effects of Typhoon Hagibis; New Zealand were a point behind South Africa, who had played all four of their matches, going into the final game against Italy, so the two points awarded for the cancelled match saw New Zealand take top spot in the pool, while Italy finished third behind South Africa. Neither Namibia nor Canada managed a win in their first three matches, and the cancellation of their final match meant they finished level on points, with Namibia finishing higher on points difference.


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool B, Overview
Pool B started with New Zealand beating South Africa 23–13. New Zealand opened their scoring with two tries in four minutes from George Bridge and Scott Barrett giving New Zealand a 17–3 lead at half-time. Pieter-Steph du Toit scored a converted try to bring the score back to 17–10 but two penalties from Richie Mo'unga and Beauden Barrett sealed the result. In Higashiōsaka, Italy conceded an early try against Namibia before running away with a bonus-point victory by 25 points. Italy earned a second bonus-point victory in Fukuoka, scoring seven tries in a 48–7 demolition of Canada.


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool B, Overview
Over in Toyota, South Africa defeated Namibia by 54 points, scoring nine tries while Namibia could manage only a Cliven Loubser penalty in the 23rd minute. New Zealand recorded their second victory of the World Cup with a 63–0 victory over Canada at Ōita Stadium. For New Zealand, Brad Weber scored his first two tries in international rugby with the Barrett brothers (Jordie Barrett, Beauden Barrett and Scott Barrett) each scoring a try as they became first trio of brothers to start for New Zealand.


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool B, Overview
New Zealand would continue their demolition of their opponents with a 62-point win over Namibia in Chōfu, with the floodgates opening in the second half after Namibia restricted the All Blacks to 24 points in the first half. Sevu Reece, Ben Smith and Anton Lienert-Brown scoring two tries in the match. Between the two New Zealand games, South Africa romped over Italy with Cheslin Kolbe scoring two tries as the South Africans won 49–3 in Fukuroi.


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool B, Overview
This was followed by a 66–7 victory over Canada with Cobus Reinach scoring the fastest hat-trick in World Cup history, with his three tries being scored in a space of 11 minutes. The final two matches of the group would not be played as Typhoon Hagibis would see the cancellation of the New Zealand–Italy and Namibia–Canada matches. At the end of the pool stage, New Zealand finished on top of the table with South Africa finishing second.


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool B, New Zealand vs South Africa
Assistant referees:Romain Poite (France)Karl Dickson (England)Television match official:Graham Hughes (England)


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool B, Italy vs Namibia
Assistant referees:Nigel Owens (Wales)Federico Anselmi (Argentina)Television match official:Marius Jonker (South Africa)


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool B, Italy vs Canada
Assistant referees:Wayne Barnes (England)Karl Dickson (England)Television match official:Rowan Kitt (England)


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool B, South Africa vs Namibia
Assistant referees:Nic Berry (Australia)Andrew Brace (Ireland)Television match official:Graham Hughes (England)


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool B, New Zealand vs Canada
Assistant referees:Pascal Gaüzère (France)Alexandre Ruiz (France)Television match official:Marius Jonker (South Africa)


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool B, South Africa vs Italy
Assistant referees:Romain Poite (France)Alexandre Ruiz (France)Television match official:Rowan Kitt (England)


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool B, New Zealand vs Namibia
Assistant referees:Luke Pearce (England)Shuhei Kubo (Japan)Television match official:Rowan Kitt (England)


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool B, South Africa vs Canada
Assistant referees:Angus Gardner (Australia)Andrew Brace (Ireland)Television match official:Rowan Kitt (England)


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool B, New Zealand vs Italy
Assistant referees:Wayne Barnes (England)Alexandre Ruiz (France)Television match official:Graham Hughes (England)


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool B, Namibia vs Canada
Assistant referees:Jaco Peyper (South Africa)Federico Anselmi (Argentina)Television match official:Ben Skeen (New Zealand)


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool C
Pool C of the 2019 Rugby World Cup began on 21 September 2019. The pool included previous World Cup hosts England and France, as well as the fourth-placed team from 2015, Argentina. They were joined by regional qualifiers from the Americas, United States (Americas 1), and Oceania, Tonga (Oceania 2), to become the first completed table ahead of the World Cup.


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool C
England and France both went unbeaten in their first three matches to guarantee qualification for the knockout stage, but their final match against each other was cancelled due to the effects of Typhoon Hagibis. England had earned a bonus point in all three of their matches, while France had just one, so England went through to the quarter-finals as pool winners. With bonus point victories against Tonga and the United States, Argentina claimed third place and the final automatic qualification spot for the 2023 Rugby World Cup, while Tonga's win over the United States in the final pool match saw them finish fourth.


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool C, Overview
Pool C's opening match saw Argentina come back from a 17-point half-time deficit against France at Tokyo Stadium, only for France's Camille Lopez to score a game-winning drop goal in the 70th minute. In Sapporo, two tries from Manu Tuilagi helped England to a bonus-point victory over Tonga. England followed that up with a 38-point victory over the United States, with Joe Cokanasiga scoring two tries in the victory; however, the match was soured by the first red card of the tournament, shown to the United States' John Quill for a shoulder charge to the head of England's Owen Farrell.


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool C, Overview
Argentina bounced back from their defeat by France with a 28–12 victory over Tonga in Higashiōsaka; all of Argentina's scoring happened in the first 28 minutes, including a hat-trick from Julián Montoya as they raced to a 28-point lead before Tonga brought the margin back to 16 with two tries of their own. After Typhoon Mitag almost cancelled the match, the French were inconsistent with errors keeping the United States in the match before three late tries in the second half would secure a 33–9 win in Fukuoka.


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool C, Overview
In Chōfu, England qualified for the quarter-finals with a 39–10 victory over Argentina with Argentinean player Tomás Lavanini being shown a red card, which forced Argentina down to 14 men as he was forced off due to a high tackle on Owen Farrell's head. France would later join them in qualifying for the knockout stage with a two-point victory over Tonga at Kumamoto Stadium.


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool C, Overview
After conceding the first 17 points of the match, Tonga came back into the match with tries from Sonatane Takulua and Mali Hingano to close the gap to only three points before Romain Ntamack gave the cushion that France needed with two penalties in eight minutes giving France the victory. Argentina would become the first team to finish their matches of the 2019 World Cup, with a 47–17 victory over the United States in Kumagaya. Joaquín Tuculet and Juan Cruz Mallia each scored two tries in the meeting, their first since 2003.


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool C, Overview
After the England–France game was cancelled due to Typhoon Hagibis, Tonga ended their World Cup campaign with a 31–19 victory over the United States. This was due to the Tongan's using their opportunities with them converting into tries and despite the United States being within striking range with three minutes to go, Telusa Veainu converted the match-winning try and a bonus-point victory for Tonga. At the end of the pool stage, it was England winning the group with France finishing in second place.


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool C, France vs Argentina
Assistant referees:Jaco Peyper (South Africa)Brendon Pickerill (New Zealand)Television match official:Marius Jonker (South Africa)


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool C, England vs Tonga
Assistant referees:Mathieu Raynal (France)Shuhei Kubo (Japan)Television match official:Ben Skeen (New Zealand)


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool C, England vs United States
Assistant referees:Paul Williams (New Zealand)Federico Anselmi (Argentina)Television match official:Ben Skeen (New Zealand)


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool C, Argentina vs Tonga
Assistant referees:Ben O'Keeffe (New Zealand)Brendon Pickerill (New Zealand)Television match official:Rowan Kitt (England)


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool C, France vs United States
Assistant referees:Wayne Barnes (England)Shuhei Kubo (Japan)Television match official:Rowan Kitt (England)


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool C, England vs Argentina
Assistant referees:Ben O'Keeffe (New Zealand)Andrew Brace (Ireland)Television match official:Marius Jonker (South Africa)


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool C, France vs Tonga
Assistant referees:Paul Williams (New Zealand)Matthew Carley (England)Television match official:Ben Skeen (New Zealand)


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool C, Argentina vs United States
Assistant referees:Jaco Peyper (South Africa)Brendon Pickerill (New Zealand)Television match official:Graham Hughes (England)


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool C, England vs France
Assistant referees:Nigel Owens (Wales)Andrew Brace (Ireland)Television match official:Ben Skeen (New Zealand)


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool C, United States vs Tonga
Assistant referees:Wayne Barnes (England)Alexandre Ruiz (France)Television match official:Graham Hughes (England)


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool D
Pool D of the 2019 Rugby World Cup began on 21 September 2019. The pool included 2015 runners-up and quarter-finalists Australia and Wales. They were joined by Georgia, who automatically qualified for the first ever time. They were joined by regional qualifiers from the Americas, Uruguay (Americas 2), and Oceania, Fiji (Oceania 1).


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool D
Wales and Australia qualified for the quarter-finals, with Wales taking top spot in the pool courtesy of a 29–25 win over the Wallabies in the two sides' second match of the tournament. Fiji, Georgia and Uruguay each won one match, but three bonus points for Fiji meant they finished in third place and qualified for the 2023 Rugby World Cup.


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool D, Overview
Pool D opened with Australia beating Fiji by 18 points in Sapporo after Fiji led by two points at half-time. Australia scored four tries in the second half for the bonus point. Wales beat Georgia 43–14 at City of Toyota Stadium, after leading 29–0 at half-time and 22–0 after three tries in the first 19 minutes. In Kamaishi, Fiji scored the opening try against Uruguay. Two mistakes within eight minutes gave Teros the lead before a try from Juan Manuel Cat enhanced it to 12 points at half-time.


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool D, Overview
Three Fijian tries in the second half were to no avail as two penalty goals from Felipe Berchesi gave Uruguay their first win in a World Cup since 2003. In Kumagaya on 29 September, Georgia recorded a 33–7 win over Uruguay. Dominant work by their forwards in the second half laid the foundation for the bonus-point victory. Over in Chōfu, Dan Biggar scored the fastest drop goal in World Cup history as Wales led 23–8 at the half. Two second-half tries from Australia brought the scores to within a point but the Welsh held out for a 29–25 win.


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool D, Overview
A second half performance from Fiji at a wet Hanazono Rugby Stadium saw the Fijians record their first win of their 2019 World Cup campaign as they won 45–10 over Georgia. This was partly due to Semi Radradra scoring two tries while also aiding in setting up three more tries as Fiji scored seven tries to one in the bonus-point victory.


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool D, Overview
Another slow start for the Australians in their game with Uruguay did not stop them from recording a win over the South Americans, with Tevita Kuridrani and Dane Haylett-Petty each getting two tries in the 35-point victory at Ōita Stadium. Four days later at the same stadium, Fiji got off to a 10–0 lead with the tries coming from Josua Tuisova and Kini Murimurivalu within eight minutes. Fiji would hold their lead until the 31st minute when Josh Adams scored his second try of three for the match.


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool D, Overview
Wales increased their lead from there to win 29–17, qualifying for the quarter-finals with Australia. The penultimate match of Pool D saw Australia outlast a tough Georgia in difficult conditions in Fukuroi, as they won 27–8. Wales would finish undefeated with a 35–13 win over Uruguay at Kumamoto Stadium to record a bonus-point victory and set up a quarter-final with France while Australia came in second.


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool D, Australia vs Fiji
Assistant referees:Luke Pearce (England)Andrew Brace (Ireland)Television match official:Rowan Kitt (England)


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool D, Wales vs Georgia
Assistant referees:Ben O'Keeffe (New Zealand)Matthew Carley (England)Television match official:Rowan Kitt (England)


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool D, Fiji vs Uruguay
Assistant referees:Angus Gardner (Australia)Andrew Brace (Ireland)Television match official:Marius Jonker (South Africa)


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool D, Georgia vs Uruguay
Assistant referees:Paul Williams (New Zealand)Alexandre Ruiz (France)Television match official:Marius Jonker (South Africa)


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool D, Australia vs Wales
Assistant referees:Luke Pearce (England)Karl Dickson (England)Television match official:Ben Skeen (New Zealand)


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool D, Georgia vs Fiji
Assistant referees:Jaco Peyper (South Africa)Matthew Carley (England)Television match official:Graham Hughes (England)


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool D, Australia vs Uruguay
Assistant referees:Jérôme Garcès (France)Karl Dickson (England)Television match official:Ben Skeen (New Zealand)


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool D, Wales vs Fiji
Assistant referees:Romain Poite (France)Karl Dickson (England)Television match official:Ben Skeen (New Zealand)


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool D, Australia vs Georgia
Assistant referees:Jérôme Garcès (France)Shuhei Kubo (Japan)Television match official:Marius Jonker (South Africa)


2019 Rugby World Cup Pool D, Wales vs Uruguay
Assistant referees:Luke Pearce (England)Karl Dickson (England)Television match official:Rowan Kitt (England)


2019 Rugby World Cup knockout stage
The knockout stage of the 2019 Rugby World Cup began on 19 October and concluded on 2 November with the final at the International Stadium Yokohama in Yokohama, Japan.


2019 Rugby World Cup knockout stage, Qualified teams
England became the first team to qualify for the knock-out stage of the World Cup, with a game in hand, after winning their opening three games of the pool stage. France became the second team to qualify for the last eight to complete the two teams that advanced out of Pool C. South Africa secured their spot in the quarter-finals after their final pool match victory over Canada. After the match cancellations, New Zealand confirmed their place in the quarter-finals as pool winners.


2019 Rugby World Cup knockout stage, Qualified teams
Wales confirmed their place in the quarter-finals with a game in hand after their win over Fiji; that result also confirmed Australia's advancement to the knock-out stage. Ireland secured their progression to the quarter-finals following their victory over Samoa in their final match. In the last pool stage match, home team Japan secured their top place in Pool A by beating Scotland and advanced to the quarter-finals for the first time in World Cup history.


2019 Rugby World Cup knockout stage, Quarter-finals, England vs Australia
Assistant referees:Romain Poite (France)Mathieu Raynal (France)Television match official:Ben Skeen (New Zealand)


2019 Rugby World Cup knockout stage, Quarter-finals, New Zealand vs Ireland
Assistant referees:Pascal Gaüzère (France)Angus Gardner (Australia)Television match official:Graham Hughes (England)


2019 Rugby World Cup knockout stage, Quarter-finals, Wales vs France
Assistant referees:Nic Berry (Australia)Paul Williams (New Zealand)Television match official:Marius Jonker (South Africa)


2019 Rugby World Cup knockout stage, Quarter-finals, Japan vs South Africa
Assistant referees:Ben O'Keeffe (New Zealand)Luke Pearce (England)Television match official:Rowan Kitt (England)


2019 Rugby World Cup knockout stage, Semi-finals, England vs New Zealand
Assistant referees:Romain Poite (France)Pascal Gaüzère (France)Television match official:Marius Jonker (South Africa)


2019 Rugby World Cup knockout stage, Semi-finals, Wales vs South Africa
Assistant referees:Wayne Barnes (England)Ben O'Keeffe (New Zealand)Television match official:Ben Skeen (New Zealand)


2019 Rugby World Cup knockout stage, Bronze final: New Zealand vs Wales
Assistant referees:Jaco Peyper (South Africa)Pascal Gaüzère (France)Television match official:Marius Jonker (South Africa)


2019 Rugby World Cup knockout stage, Final: England vs South Africa
Assistant referees:Romain Poite (France)Ben O'Keeffe (New Zealand)Television match official:Ben Skeen (New Zealand)


2019 Rugby World Cup qualifying
The qualification process for the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan began during the pool stages of the 2015 tournament in England, during which the top three teams from each of the four pools were awarded automatic qualification for the 2019 event. A further eight teams qualified through regional, cross-regional tournaments and the repechage process.


2019 Rugby World Cup qualifying
The qualifying matches began on 5 March 2016, when Jamaica defeated Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 48–0. Symbolically, the referee for the match was Nigel Owens, who had refereed the 2015 Rugby World Cup Final five months earlier.


2019 Rugby World Cup qualifying, Qualification process
Following confirmation of the twelve automatically qualified teams from the 2015 Rugby World Cup, World Rugby announced the qualification format for the eight remaining places on 12 November 2015. Of the eight berths remaining, six were decided in regional tournaments, one by a cross-regional playoff and the last one via repechage.


2019 Rugby World Cup qualifying, Qualification process
A total of 79 teams from around the world were involved in some stage of qualifying. All non-automatic qualifiers were decided by November 2018.


2019 Rugby World Cup qualifying, Qualification process, Africa
Rugby Africa was granted one place at the world cup, awarded to the winner of the Africa Cup (Africa 1). The runner-up (Africa 2) advanced to the repechage tournament. Namibia qualified while Kenya took the runner-up spot.


2019 Rugby World Cup qualifying, Qualification process, Americas
The Americas, encompassing both the Rugby Americas North and Sudamérica Rugby continental regions, was awarded two world cup places for the top teams in the Americas qualification process (Americas 1 and Americas 2). A third team (Americas 3) advanced to the repechage tournament. The United States and Uruguay qualified for the world cup, while Canada (who had previously qualified for every world cup) had to play in the repechage.


2019 Rugby World Cup qualifying, Qualification process, Asia
Asia Rugby, with its top-ranked team hosting the world cup, did not get another direct qualifying place but the Asia Rugby Championship winner (Hong Kong) advanced to an Asia/Oceania playoff for a chance at a repechage berth.


2019 Rugby World Cup qualifying, Qualification process, Europe
Rugby Europe, having seven teams automatically qualified, gained one more world cup berth for the Rugby Europe Championship winner (Europe 1). The runner-up (Europe 2) also had two further chances to qualify, directly via the Europe/Oceania play-off or through the repechage. Romania and Spain finished in first and second places but were deducted points for fielding ineligible players, effectively disqualifying them. As a result Russia qualified in first place. Germany, who had finished last in the group, advanced to the playoff against division two winners Portugal, which they won, thereby qualifying for a playoff against Samoa.


2019 Rugby World Cup qualifying, Qualification process, Oceania
Oceania Rugby was granted two world cup places for the top teams across 2016 and 2017 in the Pacific Nations Cup (Oceania 1 and Oceania 2). The third-ranked team (Oceania 3) had two further chances to qualify, via the Europe/Oceania play-off or through the repechage. Fiji and Tonga qualified directly while Samoa advanced to a playoff against Germany.


2019 Rugby World Cup qualifying, Qualification process, Oceania
Finally, the top team from the Oceania Cup (Oceania 4) advanced to the Asia/Oceania playoff for a chance to play in the repechage. Tahiti defeated Cook Islands to win the Oceania Cup in 2017 but was disqualified from progressing due to fielding ineligible players so Cook Islands advanced to the playoff against Hong Kong instead.


2019 Rugby World Cup qualifying, Qualification process, Oceania
* Thailand replaced Kazakhstan following their withdrawal before playing any games.


2019 Rugby World Cup qualifying, Qualification process, Oceania
† Minus one additional team, Turkey, who withdrew prior to playing any games.


2019 Rugby World Cup qualifying, Qualification process, Oceania
‡ Replacing Romania, who had points deducted for fielding an ineligible player.


2019 Rugby World Cup qualifying, Qualification process, Oceania
§ Replacing Spain, who had points deducted for fielding ineligible players.


2019 Rugby World Cup qualifying, Qualification process, Oceania
‖ The Cook Islands advanced to the next stage of qualifying after Tahiti were found to have breached player eligibility regulations in their Oceania Cup clash.